What I did in New Zealand, Or, Why Peter Jackson has the grooviest post-production outfit in the whole world

I spent several productive and interesting day in Wellington, New Zealand as a speaker and guest of AnimfxNZ. Having been to many conferences it is easy to get jaded about these things, but the sheer brainpower of the assembled crowd (from afar and local) made it exceptional.

Carolyn Giardina was there and in addition to moderating the opening panel that set the tone for the two day conference she found time to do an excellent write up in THR.com. Read the whole article. Here is just the opening:

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Underscoring the growing global interest in 3-D, both for theatrical release and in the home, 3Ality Digital CEO Steve Schklair told attendees at the 3rd annual AnimfxNZ Symposium held at the Wellington Convention Center how his company recently lensed an episode of NBC's "Chuck" in the 3-D format.

3Ality Digital -- the company behind the musical documentary film "U2 3D" -- handled the special episode of the spy comedy series, set to air Feb. 2, the Monday following the Super Bowl. Plans to distribute glasses to consumers are under way.

The exec offered his perspective on the prospects of 3-D in the home. "The good new is there are at least two million 'stereo-ready' sets in the U.S. market waiting for stereo content," he said. "The bad news is the market has moved away from rear projection TVs, so that will eventually go away."

But he added that new options for 3-D TV are on the way. "The home market is moving forward because there is starting to be content in the market."

In addition to the two-day conference we got a tour of Wellington and visited Peter Jackson's Weta and Park Road Post. As Guillermo Del Toro said, "This is Hollywood - the way God intended it to be." I could not agree more. There was also networking with all the great speakers, touring of the charming city of Wellington (Aberdeen crossed with San Francisco) and sampling of New Zealand wine and food. A big thanks to Kim Lavery who did such a great job of organizing it and all the people who helped out. Next year I will volunteer to go there just to run around and hold the microphone. It. Was. That. Good.